Bowral ati
[Bellefonte, Pa., August 28, 1903.
WHEN THE SMOKE LIFTED.
‘“‘And how’s little Michael ?”’ inquired
Mrs. Rozanski, in the course of an after-
breakfast chat across the dividing fence.
‘‘He’s bad,” answered Mrs. Mallek, with
a sober shake of her head—a head rather
aisheveled, for the kitchen had been hot.
‘Last night he bad his pains again, and
this morning he wouldn’t touch a drop of
his broth.”
‘“The Lord have mercy on him !’? sympa-
thetically exclaimed Mrs. Rozanski.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the Mallek home
little Michael lay, as usual, on his bed by
the window, and dully gazed, now at the
smoky atmosphere pressing against the
pane, now at the smoky ceiling close ahove
his face. It was very tiresome, thus to re-
main, prone and helpless, hour after hour,
and scarce anything to note save the monot-
onous ache within, and the everlasting
smoke without.
As ‘‘Mallek’s little lame Michael”’ was
he known, through all Bridgeport ; for he
never had walked.
‘‘He bas no back,”’ explained his parents.
Dr. Azalia himself could state the case no
clearer, even though he used long Latin
terms.
When little Michael had been two years
old, and still creeping like a turtle despite
the fact that his brothers and sisters had
walked by fourteen months at the very lat-
est, upon advice of Father Wierzelski, the
priest, Mrs. Mallek had wrapped the child
in her shawl and had carried him to the
doctor’s office. She wished to know why
her Michael wouldn’t walk.
So little Michael was placed on the floor,
that he might creep about, and Dr. Azalia
watched him narrowly. Presently the doe-
tor raised him upright, but little Michael
promptly fell over.
Doctor Azalia looked grave.
‘‘That is all—youn may pick him up,’’ he
said to Mrs. Mallek. ‘‘He can never walk,’
and he mercifully added—‘‘much.’’
“Gracious Heaven !”’ shrieked Mrs.
Mallek. ‘And why not ?”’
The doctor endeavored to tell her the rea-
son—which, after all, amounted to this :
‘‘Little Michael has no back.”
Mrs. Mallek could not believe him.
Hadn’t sheseven other children, and didn’s
every one of them walk ?
She indignantly wailed her way out of
the office and down the street, homeward.
That evening the Mallek house was a house
of sorrow, and the whole neighborhood
gathered in it to condole with the grief-
stricken family. Little Michael, however,
soundly slumbered and cared naught.
It became the custom to call him,
‘‘Mallek’s little lame Michael,’ but soon
‘‘lame’’ was a totally inadequate expres-
sion. He was more than ‘‘lame.’”” He
grew twisted, and was too weak to creep,
and it was necessary to consign him to a
bed in the front chamber, upstairs.
Here, with the mattress getting harder
and harder, and the room getting dingier
and dingier, helay on his back summer and
winter, spring and fall.
To him the seasons were uninterestingly
identical, one with another. Indeed, in
this section of the city the landscape re-
mains always the same. Always the row
upon row of tall, slender chimneys belch-
ing forth smoke from the steel mills; al-
ways the glare. day and night, of the blast
furnaces; always the rain of iron dust and
cinders, coating wall and yard and pave.
Especially, always that smoke, dense,
sulphurous, settling like a heavy fog, in the
midst of which the brilliance of December
and the glory of June are leveled to the
self same unrelenting sombreness.
In the smoke of the early mornings the
Bridgeport men and boys tramp off to their
tasks at the mills. In the smoke, later,the
children go to school, and in the smoke all
day the babies, hundreds upon hundreds of
them apparently, play everywhere. In the
smoke, at the approach of noon, the women
and girls, Hungarians and Poles, barehead-
ed or with shawls flang over, dinner bhas-
kets and dinner buckets in hand, trudge
down the railroad tracks to succor father,
husband, brother. In the smoke, at even-
ing, the men and boys return home, to eat
supper and lounge about until, in the
smoke, they go to bed.
In the smoke, on his bed by the window,
existed little Michael.
During most of the day he was alone.
His mother brought up his bowl of cabbage
soup, and then left him to await the occa-
sion for the next visit. Ina household the
size of the Mallek’s, and constantly increas-
ing, many things arise to occupy the atten-
tion and steps of a dutiful wife.
Little Michael’s memories were few.
With in them was no green grass, nor green
trees, nor blue sky. Smoke and dust gnard-
ed against an incongruity such as greenness
or azure in Bridgeport scenery. But once,
on a Polish feast day, the Mallek children
—that is, the majority of them —had taken
part in a picnic by the church, and had
been borne in an electric car into the won-
derful woods and fields, and had stayed
there from the middle of the morning until
sunset. Upon their return, red and happy,
they had excitedly rushed to show to
Michael their collection of flowers, and to
tell him their entrancing adventures.
The flowers were very wilted, but the
adventures were still vivid.
This incident was a fund upon which lit-
tle Michael drew forth the only brights
dreams that he ever had. Into his fitful
sleep glided blissful moments when he, too,
was out of doors, in a marvelous land of
things that must be trees and grass and
birds and blossoms. But just at the in-
stant when he was enjoying himself the
most he found himself on that hard old bed
again.
This morning he was very tired and
languid and defenceless, for, as his mother
bad stated, last night had heen wearing up-
on him. His tiny hody was exhausted by
the strain, and now it was a great trial for
him even to move his head. Therefore,
having stared blankly out of the murky
window pane, he let his eyes rest wearily
upon the ceiling, and with this final effort
paused, inert.
The cracks in the ceiling he knew by
heart. They formed the plan of an en-
chanted region through which, in thought,
he was wont to wander.
For instance, that big crooked crack was
the car line, and it was supposed to stop
right in the middle of those fabled picnic
. grounds where his brothers and sisters had
been. Many a time with this map con-
veniently there before his eyes, had he
boarded a car—in fancy, you know—with a
lot of other children or delightfully alone,
and away he sped mid ringing of gongs and
barking of dogs and flutter of frightened
chickens.
This was the manner in which the cars
went past the Mallek house, and little
Michael conjectured that it was the rule all
along the line,
Often he had fallen asleep ere he had
come to the end of the crack; and then,
nevertheless, he had continued right on,
and bad dreamed, oh, such beautiful
dreams. If he might but dream now? He
was so wretchedly tired.
He would try. All aboard—everybody
he knew. He called the roll. What a fine
party it was!
They were off, faster and faster—and dear
me, how sleepy he felt already! No not
sleepy, but queer and light and faint ; yet,
withal, maybe a bit drowsy.
Faster, faster, faster — hurrah! How
swiftly the car goes | Clang, clang, clang,
through the streets and around the corners.
Oh, the glorioas fun ! The jolly ride! The
best ride of all.
He closed his. eyes, for he conld see as
well with themshut. Thecrack route was
perfectly familiar.
Ah here is ‘‘the country.” Here are
more trees than you can count, and more
green grass than will cover twenty yards
such as the Nabur’s, across the way, and no
smoke, not a mite—just as Anton and
Louise and Joseph had declared.
The car halts, and the people hurry to
pile out into the pretty flowers.
Look at the children, on all sides, the
girls in their white dresses and the boys
with new straw bats, scampering between
the trees and tumbling over the grass. Lit-
tle Michael had no idea that such a multi-
tude of children had come.
But how was fe to leave the car, when
he couldn’t walk? How had he entered it
in the first place? He strove to remember
what he had done on previous similar ocoa-
sions ?
Why, there was good Father Wierzelski
standing among the children, and beckon-
ing to him. It must be Father Wierzelski,
although not exactly as he usually appear-
ed, either.
What a loving face he had !| He was urg-
ing little Michael to come ahead.
Little Michael timidly obeyed. Was it
walking—was this the walking of which peo-
ple epoke familiarly ? How easy it was af-
ter all! Little Michael felt that he simply
floated ont of the car, and grasping the
band of Father Wierzelski (was it Father
Wierzelski, or wasn’t it ?) and he was led
on—and on—and on——
* * * x
Having filled her husband ’s dinner pail,
and having dispatched Louise with it to the
mills, Mrg. Mallek prepared a strong,
steaming dish of stew for little Michael,and
bore it up-stairs.
Suddenly, next door, Mrs. Rozanski,
who, having sent one of her daughters, al-
80, to the mill with a dinner pail, was in
the act = of setting at the table along with
her numerous youngsters, heard a loud out-
ory from her neighbor’s house; and flying
over, in the hallway encountered Mrs.
Mallek, who was desperately wringing her
hands and tearing at the abundant bosom
of her gown.
“In the name of God, what’s the mat-
ter ?’’ demanded Mrs. Rozanski, stirred by
the lamentations of Mallek mother and
children.
‘‘Michael is dead ! Little Michael is
dead !”’ came the frenzied announcement.
Speedily from house to house spread the
news ‘‘Mallek’s Michael is dead !’’ Little
lame Michael is dead !”’ Women screamed
it back and forth, from doorstep to door-
step.
‘‘Ah, the poor mother !”’
‘‘Yet what a blessing, for he could never
walk !”’ :
‘‘Has the priest come ?’’
The mill whistles were blowing noon.
Adown the railroad tracks was passing the
procession of dinner buckets. The spring
sun, stroggling through the smoke, smote
hotly upon the cinders and the black dust.
But little Michael was roaming amid his
green grass and his green trees, and this
time was recalled not.—By Edwin L. Sabin
in The Household Ledger.
*
Wallace’s Circus is Coming,
This Immense Amusement Enterprise Will Exhibit
Here Soon.
All contracts necessary for the innu-
merable details connected with the exhibi-
tion of the Great Wallace shows in this
city have been completed, and this show,
which is one of America’s largest amuse-
ment enterprises, will visit this city at an
early date.
The Wallace show prides itself upon be-
ing absolutely without a peer, in point of
equipment, the excellence of its stock, the
extensiveness of its zoological display and
the real merit of its performances. No
money is spared, no expense considered too
great to procure the best that can he had
in all departments of such a mammoth in-
stitution. It is really a credit and a benefit
to any community to have a show of such
magnitude and character as the Great Wal-
lace show to visit it, and its coming to this
city at an early date will certainly please
the lovers of innocent amusements. Our
people always delight in meritorious ecir-
cuses, and the fact that the Great Wallace
show is in the very foremost rank of such
amusements, and in a class exclusively of
its own as to exceptional merit, is sure to
cause an unuenally liberal patronage upon
this visit bere.
The Wallace show is one of the biggest ;
if is a ten-acre department store whose
wares consist of amusements. People who
patronize the big department stores are
not expected to want something in every
department, neither is it expected that a
spectator at the Wallace circus will be
able to see every act, but it is expected
that he will not have any trouble to find
what he likes to see. The management
has so arranged its program that acts suit-
able to the great variety of tastes are al-
ways in view throughout the entire per-
formance, which lasts two and half hours.
The Great Wallace show will give two
performances under its immense waterproof
tents in Bellefonte on Tuesday September
8th.
Nuts and Tomatoes His Food.
Minneapolis Man Says He Was Cured From Death
by “Fast Cure.”
Peter Johnson has had nothing to eat bus
a handful of nuts and a raw tomato a day
for nine months. He isa living example
of the so-called fasting fad.
Johnson had partial paralysis of the left
side a year ago,and was a victim of Bright's
disease, weighed 240 pounds, suffered with
asthma and wae informed by his medical
advisers that he could not live more than a
month or two. Now Johnson weighs 170
pounds, is harder than nails and free from
aches and pains.
. Johnson fasted nearly 40 days, when he
began his ‘‘cure.”” Then, as he tells the
story :
‘I ate half a tomato a day for a week and
then increased to a whole tomato. After a
while I added a half pound of mixed nuts.
Three weeks from the time I began eating,
I was told to eat more by degrees, but nev-
er to overfeed. I shall never take a chance.
The tomato and the nuts, with plenty of
water, keep me in splendid condition. I
am as sound as the day I was born. I can
do four times the day’s work I used todo.”
— New York Herald.
Indian Land Frauds.
Friends of Secretary of Interior Hitchcock Said to
Be involved. Millions of Dollars Tied Up in 8t.
Louis Banks, and Hitchcock Refuses to Release it—
investigation Demanded.
A Washington dispatch to the Philadel-
phia ‘‘Ledger’’ says :
Serious acousations have been prepared
against Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock,
by the residents of Oklahoma, and the re-
sult may be first, an Investigation, by
President Roosevelt, and, second, a sweep-
ing investigation by Congress. Should the
charges be sustained, it would mean the re-
tirement of Mr. Hitchcock from the cabinet.
It is alleged that money belonging to Okla-
homa towns has been sollented by the inte-
rior department, and that $2,000,000 has
been deposited in S¢. Louis banks,in which
Secretary Hitchcock's friends are interested
and that he positively refuses to release the
money. This has been going on for two
years,and has caused a great scandal in the
West.
The allegations are so serious against the
secretary that the president will be asked
not to permit Mr. Hitchcock to have a
hand in the investigations into the alleged
Indian office frauds, but to have them con-
ducted outside.
Indian Commissioner Jones began work
on Wednesday on the data lately brought
to the attention of the Indian office and
Secretary Hitchcock in regard to alleged
frauds in the Indian Territory and alleged
complicity of prominent United States offi-
cials in wresting from the Indians their al-
lotted lande. Mr. Jones is only on the
threshold of the scandal. He has declared
broadly that there must be an investigation,
and his influence will be on that side of the
controversy. In the absence of Secretary
Hitchcock no definite plan has been reach-
ed as to how to proceed with the proposed
investigation. It is stated here on good
authority that there is a strong movement
under headway to secure from President
Roosevelt a order that will make the inves-
tigation absolutely untrammeled and im-
partial. The significance of this arises from
the fact that many friends of Mr. Hitchcock
are involved in the scandal.
CHARGED WITH TYING UP CASH.
There are no charges against the secre-
tary himself, but a number of his official
aots have been pointed out to the president
which seems to imply a want of confidence
among those who are urging the investiga-
tion in the secretary’s ability to condnet an
impartial investigation. To cite but one of
a number of cases on which this view is
based, it is stated that large sums of money
realized from the sales of town lots in sev-
eral thriving young cities in Oklahoma, in-
stead of being expended for public uses as
was provided by act of Congress, have been
deposited in St. Louis banks in which Mr.
Hitcheock’s friends are interested as stock-
holders.
Lawton, Anadarko and Hobart, the
county seats of three large and prosperous
counties in Oklahoma, have for two years
been striving to get the money derived from
the sale of town lots within their respective
sites applied to the installation of water
works, to provide their people with drink-
ing water and to protect them against fires.
The people in those places are obliged to
haul water in barrels for domestic use.
Lawton has $410,000 to ite credit and legit-
imately available for water works, and her
common council has formally acted in favor
of spending $150,000 of this amount for the
purpose in question. But in spite of the
city authorities it has been impossible to
get the sanction of the secretary of the'in-
terior, and the money lies in the vaults of
the Union Trust company, of St. Louis.
The other towns have also similar large
funds, resulting from lot sales, which they
desire to employ for water works, and can-
not get hold of it. The citizens have ap-
pealed to Mr. Hitchcock without result.
They have now gone straight to the presi-
dent with their complaint, and asked for
an investigation. This is outside the
charges of land frauds in the Indian terri-
tory.
WHY MONEY WAS KEPT BACK.
Beginning back in President Harrison’s
administration, when Gen. Noble, of St.
Louis, was secretary of the interior, a large
and powerful interest in Indian contracts,
lands and funds came into existence. In
time it formed what might be called an In-
dian ring. It was not upset by Secretary
Hoke Smith, and was assisted by Governor
Francis, of St. Louis, when he succeeded
Smith at the head of the interior depart-
ment. It is charged by the Oklahoma peo-
ple that for two years the St. Louis banks
have had the use of over $1,000,000 of town
lot money. .
. The only substantial reason Mr. Hitch-
cock advances for withholding these funds
from their proper use for improvements in
the towns to which they belong is that
there is ‘‘a crowd of looters down there,”’
who would steal the money if taken out of
the banks. The charges against Secretary
Hitchcock were signed bythe mayor and city
clerk of Lawton, and thecity seal was affix-
ed to the papers. The same charges will be
presented to Congress next session unless
the investigation should before that time get
under head way.
The enormity of the frauds on the In-
dians in the matter of leases is shown in a
computation recently exhibited to the
court in a lease concerning the right of a
Creek Indian to lease his minor child’s 165
acres allotment. It was estimated by con-
servative judges that of the 3,072,000 acres
of lands belonging to the Creeks over 2,-
500,000 acres had been leased from them,
and that there was not over 500,000 acres
that had been leased legally. Notwith-
standing the decision of the court in the
case in question that the lease of a minors’
allotment was illegal the white lessees are
in possession, and it is not easy to see how
the agent is going to be able on the com-
plaint of the dispossessed owners to oust
the whites and restore theland to the right-
ful owners.
Secretary Hitchcock has instructed the
United States district attorney for the In-
dian Territory to have the grand jury in-
vestigate the frauds. No action has been
taken on this suggestion, and it is said the
President does not sanction this course in
view of the charges recently made that the
assistant district attorney is in the land
fraud ring.
——*‘‘Look into my eyes,’”’ pleaded the
devoted youth, ‘and tell me what you see
within them.” The fair young thing, who
bad just completed her post-graduate
course and received high encomiums on
her thesis concerning opties, gazed earnest-
ly into his eyes, and then replied : “‘The
cornea is slightly distended, and the iris
shows: symptoms of dilation, while the
But he had gone, searching for a
girl who would not insist upon writing
prescriptions for goo goo— Chicago Tribune.
—_—yy
——People who offer excuses for their
habits do not do so because they are sorry,
but because they are afraid of the conse-
quences. Stop making excuses and turn
over a new leaf.
Speaks After Long Silence.
A Woman In Brest, France, After Twenty-eight Years
Regains Her Voice.
}
Intense interest continues to be shown in
France in the case of the woman employed
ona farm in the neighborhood of Brest,
who, after having lost the faculty of speech
when she was twelve, has so suddenly re-
covered it alter the lapse of twenty eight
years. So many people are traveling to the
spot to see her that she appears to be in a
fair way to making up for lost time in the
talking line, and it cannot be denied that
she has a very peculiar tale to relate. Marie
Raguenes, for such is her name, has in-
formed the representative of a Parisian con-
temporary, who looked her up for an inter-
view, that she lost her voice after brain
fever. She was an orphan, and she went
from house to house in search of work, but
for some time could only obtain an occa-
sional job. At last a farmer took pity on
her forlorn condition, and engaged her to
look after hie cattle. Between eight and
nine o’clock on the morning of Wednesday,
July 15th, as she was with her cattle in a
field, seated with her hands joined in pray-
er for France and for Brittany, she saw an
old man approaching. Becoming alarmed,
she rose to her feet, but the stranger assur-
her. ‘‘Do not be afraid my daughter,”
he said. “‘I have not come to do you any
barm, but to bring you the favor for which
you have so often prayed. I restore to you
the power of speech.”” Without a moment’s
reflection the woman exclaimed, ‘‘Oh, mon
Dieu! Are you the good Lord ?”’ “No,”
answered the old man, ‘‘but I come with a
misson from Him. Do not be puffed up
with the mercy which youn have just obtain-
ed,but pray on and pray often,as the world
is not improving, but is growing from bad
to worse.”’
Filled with awe, the woman threw her-
gelf on the ground, and when she recovered
her visitor had vanished. She describes
him as an old man with a long white beard,
attired in a black overcoat, a hat the same
color much the worse for wear, patched
white trousers, and shoes which could
scarcely be warranted to keep the mud out.
As for Marie Raguenes, ‘‘La Miracalee,”’
as she is now styled in the district, she is a
healthy working person, rather small, but
well built with bright eyes and a profusion
of hair which is beginning to turn gray.
She had never been regarded as a hysteric-
al subject, but her marvelous ‘‘vision’’ and
its extraordinary result are naturally sug-
gesting some theories on that point.
To Get Gas Out of Cold Water.
Chicago Inventor who Studied in New York Makes
Startling Claim.
Heat and light from cold water at the
cost of a song is claimed for a new inven-
tion now being perfected by Attilio Monaco
a druggist, at No. 425 Clark street, Chi-
cago. He says that he has found inexpen-
sive chemicals which will separate water
into its constituents, hydrogen and oxy-
gen, and believes that he will be able to
furnish gas for heating at 15 cents per 100,-
000 feet and for lighting at 25 cents per
100,000, which will revolutionize the in-
dustrial world.
‘The process will cut the cost of light
and heat to one four hundredths of what
they are now,’’ said Mr. Monaco. ‘‘My in-
vention isnot yet perfected, but I hope to
have it in practicable shape within a short
time.”’
Water can be reduced to hydrogen and
oxygen by means of electrolysis, which is
simply decomposition by means of elec-
tricity. The cost is prohibitive, however.
An oxy-hydrogen blast may generate al-
most the most intense heat known to
science, and may also be used for lighting
purposes. Mr. Monaco claims that the
simple addition of chemicals, known only
to himself, will decompose water rapidly
and effectively. It then only remains to
store the two gases in tanks.
The inventor is twenty-six years old and
a native of Italy. He has studied chemistry
in the New York school of pharmacy and
in Italy. Steamboating and railroading,
together with manufactures,smelting,treat-
ment of ores will be made new industries,
he claims.
He is now at work on a branch of the in-
vention by which he hopes to eliminate the
salt from sea water, enabling a vessel to
start across the Atlantic empty and arrive
at her destination with a cargo of salt
drawn directly from the ocean at small
cost.
Law that Dairymen Must Observe.
Following is the fall text of the law un-
der which prosecutions for selling adulter-
ated milk are being brought against dairy-
men.
Section 1. Be it enacted, ete., That if
any person, firm or corporate body, hy
himself, herself, or themselves, or by his,
or their agents or servants, shall offer for
sale, expose for sale, sell, or have posses-
sion with intent to sell, for human con-
sumption, milk or cream, to which has
been added boracic acid salt, boarie acid,
salioylic acid, salioylate of soda, formaline,
formaldehyde, sodium fluoride, sodium
benzoate, or any compound or substance
for the purpose of preserving or coloring of
same, shall be deemed guilty of a mis-
demeanor, and, upon conviction thereof in
the court of quarter sessions of the proper
county, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of
not less than §50 nor more than $100, or to
undergo an imprisonment not exceeding 60
days, or both, at the discretion of the
court.
Section 2. The agent of the department
of agriculture, known as the dairy and
food commissioner shall be charged with
the enforcement of all the provisions of
this act, and shall have all the power to
enforce this act that is given him to enforce
the provisions of the act by which he re-
ceives his appointment.
Section 3. All penalties and costs for
violations of the provisions of this act shall
be paid to the dairy and food commissioner
or his agent, and by him into the state
treasury, to be kept as a fund,separate and
apart, for the department of agriculture
for the enforcement of this act, and to be
drawn out upon the warrant signed by the
secretary of agriculture and the auditor
general.
Of Interest to Law Students.
The Pennsylvania State board of exam-
iners for registration of students at law
will hold examinations on September 22nd
and 23rd at Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Har-
risburg, Wilkesharre and Williamsport.
The credentials of applicants must he fil-
ed on or before September 1st.
Danville Woman Hangs Herself.
The home of James L. Pursel, of near
Danville, on Saturday morning, was dark-
‘ened by a sad tragedy, the wife and moth-
er, while the others slept,steathily leaving
her bed and taking her life, by hanging
herself in the woodshed with portions of a
hammock.
oo HIER,
Lyddite’s Terrible Power.
How Shells are Filled With the Explosive at Wool.
wich.
For a long time after its first discovery
picrie acid, which is the foundation of lyd-
dite, was used in the arts chiefly as a dye,
and was often stored in large quantities,
without any idea of its terrible power. A
number of years ago a fire occurred in a
building in one of the large manufacturing
towns where a large amount of picric acid
was stored. During the progress of the fire
a terrible explosion ocourred, the cause of
which could not be explained. After a
time experiments showed that picric acid
when rapidly heated and burned in a con-
fined space appeared to undergo a process
of decomposition, which transformed it
from an inert substance into one of the
most terrible. of explosives.
M. Turpin. a French chemist, recogniz-
ing the possibilities of the substance in-
vented the preparation of it, which he nam-
ed after M. Meline, the then French Pre-
mier, and it was adopted in the French
military service. The English War Office,
some years afterward followed suit, only
their adaptation of picric acid was named
not after a prominent politician, but after
the gunnery school at Lydd, in Kent,
where the first experiments with it were
carried out by British artillery experts.
Lyddite melts at a temperature of 122.5
centigrade, a degree of heat about 40 de-
grees Fahrenheit hotter than boiling wa-
ter, when it assumes the form of a pale yel-
low liquid. The method of filling shells
with it is to melt the lyddite and pour it
into the shells, which are then allowed to
cool. If ignited in the open air it burns
away harmlessly, with a smoky flame. To
develop its explosive quality it must be
fired by a detonating substance, such as
fulminate of mercury, when it instantly
resolves itself into gas at terrific pressure.
In the filling sheds at Woolwich Arsenal
the shells, after being filled with Iyddite,
are left to cool in the shed. When quite
cold the fuse hole in the nose of the shell,
through which the charge was poured, is
closed with a wooden plug, driven in with
a lead hammer, so as to avoid risk of
sparks, and the shell is then placed in
store. No shells in the British service of a
larger calibre than 10 inches or of a small-
er size that 4.7 inches are at present filled
with lyddite. Those of a larger or smaller
size are filled with ordinary gunpowder in
the form of what is known as ‘‘pebble”
powder, from its bulk and shape. Lyddite
shells are always fused at the point, so as
to avoid the risk of premature explosions
in the bore of the gun when the shell is
fired. It this accident happened no gun
would be strong enough to resist the pres-
sures that would be set up. Indeed, a pre-
mature explosion of this nature did oceur
some years ago in one of the English war-
ships when at practice in the North Sea.
The gun in which it took place was cus off
at the point of explosion as cleanly as if it
had heen done with a lathe. Fortunately,
the burst occurred in that portion of the
gun which was outside theside of the ship,
80 that there was no fatal result.
The inquiry which has been ordered by
the War Office into the dreadful accident
last month at Woolwich may disclose the
cause, but this is extremely doubtful. If,
as is the accepted theory, one of the 10-inch
shells burst, detonating the others near it,
it is possible that the accident was cansed
by a particle of grit on the wooden plug
with which the filling hole is closed. This
may have caused a tiny spark that fell on
and ipnied the lyddite charge within the
shell.
‘The man who drove in. the. plug could
not, of course, notice this, as the plug
would prevent him seeing it, and the
charge would burn quietly for a second or
two, until the pressure and temperature
rose sufficiently high, when the whole con-
tents of the shell would instantly detonate.
Be that as it may, the fact that lyddite is
exceedingly safe to manufacture and to
handle is proved by the fact that a quan-
tity of the exprosive which was in a melt-
ing pot in a shed near that destroyed was
quite unaffected by the explosion.
Husbands Whip them Home.
Ever since the Doukhobor outbreak in
Manitoba, a year ago, when over 2,000
fanatics started off on a pilgrimage in
search of Jesus only to be called to a halt
by the mounted police, run into a corral
aud bundled off to their homes in closely
guarded trains, the religious excitement
has been smouldering in the faraway vil-
lages of the colony of this strange Russian
sect.
Several times it has blazed forth in small
crusades, hut the presence of the police on
guard and the growing influence of the
more enlightened of the Doukhobors have
prevented a repetition of a crusade of equal
magnitude.
About a week ago a woman agitator
named Sophia Storboloff managed to secure
a following in one of the settlements be-
hind Swan river.
The men were away at work in the fields
some miles from their homes, and in their
absence she wrought up the women to such
a pitch tbat they all discarded their cloth-
ing and prepared to follow her on a jour-
ney to Christ. :
' Word was sent to the men at work and
they followed the women to bring them
back. Words were of no avail and resort
was had to force. The men used the whips
they had for their horses and oxen, and the
naked ranks were soon broken and in home
ward flight.
Rural Service Short $6,000,000.
Congress at its next session must author-
ize a deficiency appropriation of $6,000,000
or the establishment of rural free delivery
routes must be suspended from January
1st to June 30th, 1904.
The astonishing discovery has just been
made by the postoffice authorities that half
of the $12,500,000 appropriated for the
rural free delivery service during the pres-
ent fiscal year has been anticipated. Only
sufficient remains to continue the develop-
ment of the system during the current cal-
endar year.
August W. Machen, former superinten-
dent of the service, now under indictment,
is held responsible for this condition. He
practically mortgaged the appropriation for
the current fiscal year by establishing
routes during the last months of his incum-
bency. More than one-half of the appro-
priation will be required to carry routes
already established.
Postal officials are irritated at the way
George W. Beavers has been permitted to
evade arrest. They are perturbed over the
action of the authorities of Brooklyn, and
do not hesitate to so declare themselves
when talking in private. District Attor-
ney Youngs comes in for criticism. It is
considered strange that a person under in-
dictment is not at least served with notice
of the indictment, particularly when his
whereabouts are declared to be known.
The suspicion is held by many that strong
influence has been exerted to stave off the
arrest of Beavers,
200 Dead In Jamaica.
Seventy Killed Outright and 500 Hurt By Hurri-
cane—Damage $12,000.000.
A dispatch to the London “Daily Ex-
press’ from Kingstown, Jamaica says that
seventy persons were killed and over 500
injured by the hurricane that swept over
the island last Tuesday. It is believed
Shas the total number of dead will reach
a damage to property approaches $12,-
Thousands of homeless people are wan-
dering about in a condition of extreme
misery. Only six houses are standing in
the town, of San Antonio. Fifteen hun-
dred persons there are homeless. Two
thousand are homeless in Port Antonio.
Only the tail of the hurricane struck
Kingstown, which was less damaged than
the other towns, although the electric
lighting and water plants were damaged
kg the shipping was more or less in-
jured.
HURRICANE A HELP ?
President A. W. Preston, of the United
Fruit company, Boston, says that in his
opinion the hurricane in Jamaica will prove
beneficial to his company, because the sur-
plus crop of bananas has* been destroyed.
While there will be some losses on build-
ings that will amount to little.
“Every year,” said Mr. Preston, ‘‘it has
been a bother for us to take care of the
surplus fruit in Jamaica which we have
under contract, between October 1st and
March 1st. Our chief plantations are in
Costa Rica, and in the past we have had to
destroy vast quantities of bananas of our
own raising there, in order to try to care
for some of the stock in Jamaica, which we
have had to contract for in order to get the
frais in the season when it is not so plenti-
al.
‘‘This hurricane will enable us to use
all our own Costa Rica frnit and obviate
the necessity of destroying any of it there
or in Jamaica.
BANANA INDUSTRY THE MAINSTAY.
A former overseer of Jamaica plantations
said on Thursday :
‘‘It the cabled report to the effect that
the banana industry of Jamaica has been
almost entirely wiped out be true starva-
tion confronts 800,000 people—the popula-
tion of that island. Of that number, over
500,000 are helpless, ignorant negroes,
whose only means of subsistence was by
laboring on the banana plantations.
‘The island has led a hand-to-mouth
existence during the last 20 years. Jamai-
ca coffee became of little or no market
value; sugar was only a beautiful feature
of the landscape.
‘It will take 14 months, at least, for the
banana plants to yield again, provided
there is money enough left in the island to
replant.
‘It was about 20 years ago that the
island of Jamaica awoke to find that the
sugar crisis had come and tbat complete
demoralization, financially, was immiment.
A clamor arose for annexation to the
United States. The islanders were en-
raged at the treatment accorded them by
the mother country. Then one Sunday,
while the people were praying for assist-
ance in the chapel at Port Antonio, an
American schooner sailed into the bay, and
a Yankee skipper, Captain Bush, said he
wanted to buy a shipload of bananas.
‘‘The people thought he was mad. No-
body there set any value upon bananas.
But it is handed down that even clergy-
men assisted in the loading of that schoon-
er. Thus began the enormous banana
trade which is perhaps blighted to-day.
*‘Capt. L. D. Baker, of Boston, presently
followed with another schooner, and soon
was formed the Boston (now United) Fruit
company, with Baker at its head.
‘‘Cane, cocoa and coffee crops total loss.
Fruits and vegetables positively destroyed.
Every town and village injured. Thou-
sauds of houses down. Deaths few. Com-
munication diffienlt. Bread-stuffsand pro-
visions, galvanized roofing will find sale,”
is the cablegram which was received at
the state department from John E. Jewel,
American consul at Martinique.
Woman Drifts Out to Sea.
Drank Salt Water and Became Delirious. Picked Up
After two Days.
Mis. Clara Carter, of Munroe’s Island,
Me., was carried out to sea in a dory in a
gale on Sunday evening, and was picked
up thirty miles east of Mount Desert Rock
on Tuesday afternoon by the fishing schoon-
er Hazel Oneta, of Gloucester. The wom-
an was nearly dead from exposure and from
the effects of the salt water which she had
drank to quench her thirst, but will proba-
bly recover. Mrs. Carter is now at Swan’s
Island.
Early on Sunday morning she started
from Owl’s Head for Munroe’s Island in a
light dory. Under ordinary conditions the
passage of three-fourths of a mile would
have been made in a few minutes but the
breeze stiffened into a gale and Mrs. Carter
found it very difficult to manage her craft.
Then one of the oars snapped, leaving her
helpless.
It was so dark that nobody on shore ob-
served her predicament, and the gale
drowned her cries for help. The dory
drifted out to sea, and the gale continued
all day Monday.
On Tuesday, more than forty hours after
Mrs. Carter bad left the mainland, the
schooner czme up with the dory. It had
drifted about seventy-five miles, and was
half full of water when picked up.
Still Ten Cents a Drink.
The newly-discovered process of distil-
ling whisky from sorghun molasses, it is
said, brings the cost of production down to
eight cents a gallon. But this is no indica-
tion that whisky is to be cheaper. In re-
cent years the cost of production has never
cut much of a figure in determining the
selling price of whisky. The government
tax of $1.10 per proof gallon is one of the
chief items, and the storing of the liquor
until it ages of course adds to the price the -
consumers pay.
Kansas Women Smash Joint.
Eight women, concerned in the smashing
of a “joint” in Wichita, Kan., last week,
were arrainged in the city court on Wed-
nesday. All pleaded guilty to assault and
were fined $10 each and costs. Those who
were fined were Mrs. Dixon, Dora War-
dell, Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Lave, Mrs. Bra-
den, Mrs. Weyoff, Mrs. Freeman and Mrs.
Rogers.
Warrants were sworn out against Mrs.
Jones and Mrs. Sloat, also, but the cases
against them were dismissed. The com-
plaint was filed by attorney S. B. Amidon,
and the women were charged with assaunlt-
ing T. H. Mahan. The attorney and his
client were forced to beat a retreat amidst
a shower of eggs, thrown by the women,
who had just finished their work against
the saloon.
The men had gone to look after Mahan’s
interests in the saloon.